rockhappy
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2010
Posts: 12
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Post by rockhappy on Jan 2, 2011 21:17:27 GMT -5
Hi All-
We had a spell of warm weather today - perfect timing for our first batch to come out of polish...boy were we excited...
The stones looked great after 500 and a wash. They had a nice semigloss look.
Then, today, after two weeks in polish, half of them had ground to a rough, dull finish, had new pits, cracks, and oddly, many of the flat faces were nice and shiny but the corners/edges looked beat up.
The load was full enough, I thought, so I didn't add any filler. Should I have added tile spacers/pellets for cushioning? Is it better to have fewer stones and more filler to make up the volume?
What else do you suggest? We are now sorting the stones to go back a step or two. Some of them may need to go back to 60/90 because of the cracks and chips.
My wife was so disappointed that she was close to just giving up. Particularly because they all looked so good after the 500 stage.
Anyway, we're still plugging away but not sure how to fix the problem.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
--Hol
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jan 2, 2011 21:36:28 GMT -5
Were these same stones carried all the way through?Without adding more? When you started in the coarse, you most likely had the proper amount of rock. But the coarse stage took maybe a third or a fourth off.The fine took some more off.Probably should have added filler for the next stage to bring the volume back up.After tumbling several batches, you will have some extra rocks to throw in future batches to bring the volume up or use airsoft bb's, tile spacers,ceramics to do it.I'll let someone else chime in. I have lortone 12lb 'ers and the cushioning is really important in the larger barrels as the rocks have further to fall and bang each other without proper cushioning. snuffy
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 2, 2011 22:22:29 GMT -5
Yup, sounds like too much knocking together. You need a lot off plastic pellets or some other cushion in the final three stages to prevent this, especially if you are tumbling tender or softer stones like obsidian or tiger-eye and the like.....Mel
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jasperblue
starting to spend too much on rocks
Diggin' This
Member since August 2010
Posts: 140
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Post by jasperblue on Jan 3, 2011 0:06:14 GMT -5
Yes, follow the advise of Snuffy and Sabre52. The constant volume is key. Get up a collection of bulk rocks, smooth, between 1/4" and 3/4" dia., and run as many as you need to keep up the bulk of the original 'coarse' load. You can run these 'bulk rocks all the way through and use them again in future loads. And most definitely use plastic beads in the last three stages. And I go as far as to use common table sugar, quite a bit - by feel, to thicken up and slow down the final stages. The sugar does not affect the polish.
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lloyd1wv
starting to shine!
Member since December 2010
Posts: 47
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Post by lloyd1wv on Jan 3, 2011 9:43:03 GMT -5
I think all of us have experienced these "disappointing loads". But they become learning experiences. This board has been such a wonderful place to learn. It seems like each day I learn a bit more, and now I realize that we all seem to develop our own "receipt" for what we add, when we add it, how we handle volume, cushioning, length of time, how to prepare rocks before starting, etc, etc,. That becomes the "charm" of the hobby. If it were all easy and cut and dry we would dump it and quit; it wouldn't be exciting enough to hold our attention. - I don't mean to be on a soap box, but the past couple of days have been really exciting to me as I have figured out new things and have new ideas on how to proceed with future loads. Right now I wish I had about six tumblers so I could try all of the ideas out at once!!!!! I hate waiting, but then that is part of what adds to the anticipation and fun I guess. ==Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
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rockhappy
off to a rocking start
Member since September 2010
Posts: 12
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Post by rockhappy on Jan 3, 2011 19:20:40 GMT -5
Thanks for the very helpful responses. Looks like I'll go get some cushion. I am intrigued by the airsoft BBs. Seems like I can get a large quantity for relatively little money with the added benefit of easy cleanup/retrieval. Anyone share their experience with them?
I had some tile spacers that I've been using for 120/220 but they are pricey at the volumes that I'm looking for.
For the polish stage, what is the appropriate ratio of rocks to cushion? Maybe rocks up to 1/2 and cushion to 3/4 or is that too much cushion?
Thanks all. --Hol
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Post by susand24224 on Jan 3, 2011 19:33:25 GMT -5
What type of rocks are you tumbling? Methods not only vary from person to person, but also according to the characteristics of the rocks.
Susan
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